It’s Time to Make a Choice

Chris' latest post inspired me to write a follow up to one of his statements. In his post from the 22^nd he wrote:

“Millions more young adults pledge support to Obama: Said millions still unclear on what Obama actually is running his campaign on.”

This comment inspired me not only because it seems to truly capture the essence of what a lot of people feel about Obama’s rise to the top, but it also paints a picture of the current Presidential Race as one in which people are still not quite sure how they’ll vote. With the wealth of information available on both candidates, to still claim that you’re not sure who you’ll vote for is almost entirely an indictment of you. To put a number on who these  people are, let's look at the most recent poll by Real Clear Politics (an average of all public polls) which has Obama ahead by 4.8 points (46.4 – 41.6). What this poll doesn't say is that 12% of the public is either undecided or are voting for a 3rd party candidate.

If you're a party hardliner then this post is not for you, for those of who claim to be "independent" a quick reading through the two candidates’ websites might do the trick. I’m guessing however that policy issues aren’t getting in your way as most policy minded individuals made their decisions months ago. For a quick side by side comparison of what both websites contains, you might want to check out this quick summary . Or just read the following quote:

“Here's a list of issues that Obama has a page on and McCain doesn't: Civil Rights, Disabilities, Faith, Family, Foreign Policy, Homeland Security, Poverty, Service, Seniors and Social Security, Technology, Urban Policy, Women. That's a pretty striking list. Moreover, he has a page called 'Additional Issues' with links to plans on Arts, Child Advocacy, Katrina, Science, Sportsmen, and Transportation. Of these, only Sportsmen has a counterpart on McCain's site. Finally, under 'People', you can find separate policy pages on issues relevant to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (one-pagers in six languages, a longer version in English), First Americans, Labor, Latinos, and LGBT.

That's twenty five issues that Obama gives a page to and McCain does not. And some of them are pretty striking: Foreign Policy, Homeland Security, and Poverty are surprising absences in one way; Faith, Family, and Service in another.

Here's a list of issues McCain covers that have no counterpart on Obama's Issues page: The Sanctity of Life (question: why is "Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers" part of McCain's Sanctity of Life policy?), Judicial Philosophy, Space Program. If you hunt around, you can find a link to a little page with two paragraphs on autism which has, to my knowledge, no counterpart on Obama's site. [UPDATE: in comments at ObWi, ulpian246 points out that Obama does have a page on autism.]

That's three issues that McCain gives a page to and Obama does not.”

One other tidbit that I find interesting is that the #1 point on McCain’s energy plan is expanding domestic oil and natural gas exploration / production. He even went so far as to give President Bush credit for the recent drop in oil prices, ($123 as of July 25th). Perhaps someone should tell John McCain that a more effective way to impact the price of oil domestically would be to start referring to the oil industry as "unpatriotic" unless it stops the 1.6 million barrels of oil that we EXPORT everyday. Or better yet, start referring to anybody driving over 65 mph or in a car that gets less than 24.6 mpg (2004 new car efficiency standards) as unpatriotic.

Apparently someone forgot to mention to the McCain campaign that more US oil production does not necessarily translate into more US oil. Perhaps a more holistic approach to energy independence would be helpful. Like this for example:

• Reduce Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2050
• Invest in a Clean Energy Future
• Support Next Generation Biofuels
• Set America on Path to Oil Independence
• Improve Energy Efficiency 50 Percent by 2030
• Restore U.S. Leadership on Climate Change